1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to green technologies, and more specifically to operating DC power sources in an array for enhanced efficiency.
2. Related Art
Power is often harvested from various DC sources. DC sources provide output power with a fixed or constant polarity, as is well known in the relevant arts. Solar panels are examples of such DC sources.
A solar panel refers to a packaged assembly of photovoltaic cells, with each cell generally being designed to generate power from incident solar energy in the form of light. A single solar panel generally produces only a limited amount of power.
Hence, several solar panels are typically combined to form a solar panel array. Solar panels may be combined in series to generate a higher voltage output. Multiple series-connected solar panels may also be combined in parallel to enable a higher output current capability.
Efficiency can generally be measured as the ratio of the power generated by a DC source to the maximum power the DC source can generate. It is generally desirable that DC sources be operated with enhanced efficiency such that increased power is available for use by external systems.
The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.